Serenity - A Firefly Movie

So, I was trying to find a really good picture for this posting, but I was unable to find exactly what I wanted. So, this is the picture you get. A few years ago there was a TV show called Firefly. It was on Fox and was created by Joss Weedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fame. Regretfully the show was canceled after only 11 episodes. The show was very entertaining. It was a Sci-Fi western. But it was different then most Sci-Fi shows because there were no aliens. It takes place 500 years in the future, and humans have colonized the galaxy, and low-and-behold there were no aliens out there.

The show follows a ship called Serenity and her crew. They are a ragtag group of people all with their own idiosyncrasies. Why am I writing about this show you may be asking yourself. Well, the fans came through. DVD sales for the show went through the roof (over 200,000 so far). That may not seem like much but for a show that lasted only 11 episodes it is a lot. And now Universal Pictures has produced a movie that comes out this Friday, September 30th, called Serenity.

I want to encourage everyone to go and see it. Joss has guaranteed that anyone that sees it will understand what is going on. This is not just a movie made for the fans of the show. If you were a fan of the show it will provide answers to some questions raised during the show. If the movie does well then there may be more movies to come. For more information there is a webpage for the movie: http://www.serenitymovie.com

So, please go and see it. Tell me what you think. After I see it I will post my review.

Psalm 51 – A Prayer of Repentance

This is a psalm that I have read when I feel that sin has overcome me, or has just been pulling at my heart and my conscience is bothering me (thank you Holy Spirit).

v. 1-4 – David starts with asking for forgiveness.  This is what we must do even to this day.  God always wants us to repent of our sins.  He (David) also knows that it is up to God to forgive him.  He asks for mercy, and knows it will come because God is love.  Also, David acknowledges his sins.  He has recently had sex with Bathsheba, who was another man’s wife at this time, let alone the fact that it wasn’t his wife at all.  This is weighing heavily on him, and he needs the glorious mercy of God to lift his sorrow.

v. 5-9 – David knows that he was conceived in sin, we are all born in sin, and that his sin must be cleansed from the inside, all the way to the deepest part of his core.  I have felt this way at times.  There are things that I have done that I know God has been very happy to wash out.  The relief that is felt at those times is unlike just about anything else.  To know that God, the creator of everything has devoted a piece of Himself to me to clean me out is amazing.

v. 10-13 – David does not want to be apart from God any longer, and also wants to help others come to know the great salvation that God has to provide.  We can be the same way.  After a terrible ordeal and we feel that wonderful presence of God, we can then share that wonderfulness with others.  These are the testimonies God wants us to spread about Him.

v. 14-19 – David knows that there is nothing he can do that would make God want to forgive him.  Works are not what God looks at when forgiveness is needed.  He looks to the heart, just as David acknowledges in verses 16 and 17.

Whenever you feel the weight of sin on your heart, shoulders, body, mind, spirit, etc. just spend some time talking with God.  Pray through Psalm 51.  Insert your personal issues into it.  David was going through infidelity, but you could just as easily apply this to any other sin you can think of.

Relient K is the band to listen to right now

Going on from my last post I want to mention another band that is really on my mind right now: Relient K.  There most recent album “mmhmm” was released by both Gotee Records and Capital Records.  Like Switchfoot they have made it into the mainstream music scene.  The reason I like them is that they are fun, musically talented, and talk about God in their music.  Ever since I heard them sing Hello McFly and My Girlfriend (the Marilyn Manson song) at Spirit West Coast back in 2000 and I bought their CD they have always been a band I enjoy listening to.  They are an alternative rock band.  Some stuff is hardish and other songs are quite slow.

When their second album came out, “The anatomy of the tongue and cheek,” the song “Less Is More,” touched me.  God does love me and I don’t have to be anything special for Him to love me.  This album was a big step both musically and in lyrics.  More of the songs talked about how our relationship with God is important.  But at the same time I loved the song “I’m Lion-O” which is a tribute the “Thundercats,” which I loved as a kid.  They still had the fun stuff that made them so much fun to listen to.

Then their third album came out, “Two lefts don’t make a right, but three do.”  Again, I felt this was a step forward in their growth as musicians and Christians.  The lyrics again touched me in “Forward Motion, “ Over Thinking,” “I Am Understood?” “Getting Into You,” and “From End to End.”  “I Am Understood?” was the song I loved the most from a touching standpoint.  The first couple of lines are so true: “Sometimes it’s embarrassing to talk to you.  To hold a conversation with the one who sees right through you.”  It just gets better through the song.  It is so true.  I have trouble praying at times, because I am sure that He doesn’t want to talk to me, because I have so much filth in my life.  I could focus so much more on Him, but I get caught up in the world, and then it is hard to talk to God.  Now, I know that He always wants to talk to me, and wants me to talk to Him.  And this songs helps with that.

The next album out was their Christmas album.  This album has my current favorite song.  It is called “I Celebrate the Day.”  It has two questions that make up part of the chorus that I really like, and wonder about: “…the first time you opened your eyes did you realize that you would be my savior?  And the first breath that left your lips did you know that it would change this world forever?”  What do you think?  Jesus knows us inside and out.  He knew that we were full of sin, and yet came to earth.  Not only did He live among us, He lived a perfect life, and then He was killed.  He died for me, you, and everyone else.  Now, did He know that when He was born.  Why would He open His eyes, or take that first breath, knowing that He would one day die?  He did it because He loved me, and you, and everyone else.  He wants you to know Him.  So, I try to listen to this song as often as possible, so I remember to celebrate the day He was born as often as I can.

Finally, “mmhmm” came out this year.  And again Relient K has grown.  There were more great songs that were fun, more that talked about life/personal issues, and more about God.  “More than Useless,” “Who I am Hates Who I’ve Been,” and “When I Go Down” are all great songs about how God loves us even though we were and are sinners.  Another thing that I loved about this album was that they released it in vinyl as well.  I purchased it, and it had an extra song, “Apatheic Way to Be.”  It is a fun song in the way that the guys like to write fun songs.

Relient K is certainly a band that is worth listening to if you aren’t into them already.

"Nothing is Sound"

I bought the new Switchfoot CD, "Nothing is Sound."  I like it.  Musically I think it is very engaging.  I spent a little extra and purchased the dual disc version.  It has a DVD side that has the album in 5.1 digital sound which sounds GREAT on my sound system.  If you have a 5.1 system or better then it is well worth the money to get this version.  

I don’t like it quite as much as “A Beautiful Letdown,” because they do not directly mention God was much on this album.  He is there, and you can hear Him in the album, but He is not overtly there as past albums like “Letdown.”

“Stars” is the song that is being played all over the radio at the moment, and it is a great song.  It really makes me look at myself, and deeper than just the surface.  It is a harder song which I like.

The CD is really good, and well worth the time and money to go and get.

My business

Some of you may know that I have my own small business. I import and sell shades for digital cameras, camcorders, and laptop LCD screens. I have been doing this since 2002; ever since I first saw them at PhotoKina 2002. They are made by Camera Bellows (the same company that makes the bellows for my father’s cameras). The first thing I usually hear is why are the laptop shades so expensive? What most people don’t know is that these are all hand made. There is no machine that can make a bellows; therefore you are paying for the time and the material to make them. Speaking of material, these are very well made. The material they are made of allows for these to last for who knows how long. The one I am using on my digital camera is 3 years old, and still works as well today as it did 3 years ago. In addition, my laptop shade works wonderfully as well. If you want to check out the webpage about product information then here is the website:

www.canhamcameras.com/Bellows.html

So, who uses them? The digital camera and camcorder shades are used by everyone: professionals to family vacationers. I have sold laptop shades to professional photographers, oil companies, and even Honda R&D.

Family Camp 2005

Beverly and I went to Trinity’s Family Camp this last weekend.  I wasn’t sure how good it was going to be, but I had a fun time.  On Saturday Beverly was in charge of the hobby hut (craft area).  It was a big success.  There were a lot of kids there, and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.  During that time I had my solar telescope out, and I saw a lot of great solar flares.  I was supposed to host a night time telescope experience, but it was cloudy.  Instead I hooked my laptop up to a projector and used Starry Night Pro to show everyone there the night sky.  It seemed to go just fine.  The next night it was clear, and I got the telescope out, and about 25 people came to look through it.  We looked at the Lagoon Nebula, a few globular and open clusters, the Andromeda Galaxy, Neptune, Uranus, and the Dumbbell Nebula, and that was a success as well (To see images of these objects go to the search page on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website).  God’s creation is incredible, and seeing these objects in all their splendor is just another reminder that God loves me (and others) so much that He created all of the universe for me (and others) to look at.

The speaker for the weekend was Pastor Don Engram.  The overall theme was The Great Race, and the second session was my favorite.  He drew from the book of Joshua chapter 1, verses 6-9.  He talked about Joshua taking over for Moses before going into the Promise Land.  God promised to bless Joshua (and all who believe) in three ways.  Verse 6 mentions blessings from doing nothing other than just believing.  All we have to do is believe in God, and He will bless us.  This is a great promise of comfort.  In verses 7 and 8 God talks about blessings from obeying.   There are a lot of Christians who believe in God, but don’t obey what He has asked us to do.  How can we show our love to God is we don’t obey what He has asked us to do?  We can’t.  As Christians we are constantly being bombarded with disobedience.  It is very easy to not do what God wants us to do.  I struggle with it daily as everyone does.  We just need to focus our hearts and minds on God, and He will help us.  Ask yourself: Are the things I’m doing obeying the Lord?  Finally, verse 9 talks of blessings from resting.  This seems odd right?  Why would God bless us by resting.  Just keep in mind that He is with us always and we can trust that He will help us through all our troubles, and we can find rest in that comfort.  The others sessions were just as good.

The Monsoon and a Mouse Trap

As some of you know I teach physics part time at a community college.  In the class I am teaching this semester the students have to build a mouse trap car.  It is a competition between the students.  This is the only thing in class where they can earn extra credit.  Some of my students seem very excited about this, in fact, a few are going to try and get their cars to go over 100m.  This is nearly impossible, but if they want to try, I am more than willing to see it happen.  The farthest I have even seen one go in a past class is 39m.  I am very glad that they are getting into it (I will have to wait and see if that enthusiasm stays there until the project).

At school today it rained and hailed quite a bit.  The monsoon seems to be back.  Now I really hope it goes away before the weekend.  I am in charge of an astronomy night at Family Camp, and I really hope it isn’t cloudy.  So any prayer for no clouds Saturday and Sunday night would be great.