May. 2, 2008 - Heaven's Gates, Hell's Flames.
Tonight my church is having auditions for a drama called "Heaven's Gate, Hell's Flames. I'm going to try out, because I'm a pretty decent actor, and I feel like I should use my talents.
I'm a bit torn about the whole drama in general, however.
From what I've seen, it's a pretty typical evangelistic drama, showing different people in various scenarios who then die, wake up at heaven's gates, and find out what their eternal destiny is. If their name is in the book of life, the hallelujah chorus plays, and Jesus comes out to escort them to heaven.
If their name is not in the book of life, the stage turns red, and the devil and his demons come out and drag the screaming person away to hell. The whole "at Heaven's gates" scene is very dramatic, and moving, and is repeated for each scenario of people.
To be honest, the whole thing looks a bit corny, and..sorta tacky. (there's a lot of shiny foil in heaven. lol)
But I could look past that, because it IS a church production, not a big professional show. Besides, God can use whatever you're able to give him. It doesn't have to be perfect.
My main problem is with the idea of the drama. It seems like the whole point is just to get people so scared of going to hell and worked up emotionally that they repent, and give their hearts to Jesus.
I guess that someone getting saved just because they are scared of hell is okay, as long as they really repent and develop a personal relationship with Jesus, but the whole idea seems a bit... manipulative. I highly doubt that was the intent of the people who came up with the drama, but it feels that way to me. And I don't want people to view my God as a capricious tyrant who sends some people to hell and some to heaven. He does have to let people go to hell when they refuse to accept Jesus, but He's a loving God, and i think it hurts him deeply to let people go.
I don't really know what to think. I don't even know if this post made sense. ;)
Maybe my opinion will change tonight when I learn more about the drama.
I'll let you know. :)
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Apr. 21, 2008 - Catching up.
Well, it's been a while since I've posted, I've been pretty busy since then. I think I'll make a list of some of the things that have happened, because I like lists.
and pictures, because I like those, too. :P
1. My dad left for army training in Kansas. In about five weeks he'll be deploying to Afghanistan. Things have been interesting since he left. My mom doesn't usually cope well with him being gone, so I've had to take on a lot of responsibility as far as housework goes. I guess it's good training for being a housewife someday. ;)
2. I did get to see Enchanted, and loved it. :) I think it's definitely up there on my favorite movie list. The producers did a great job of incorporating lots of elements from the classic disney movies. I think it's definitely up there on my favorite movie list. :)
3. Remember the stray cat that has been staying outside our house? Well, he and our cat, Oliver, are NOT getting along. The stray cat has actually been attacking Oliver, not the other way around. Last night they got into a fight, and our poor kitty got bitten in the leg. His leg is a little better this morning, but he's still limping around. It's pretty cute, in a pitiful way.
So now we're not sure what to do with the stray cat. He's still sweet as anything, but having two cats in the same area isn't working.
4. I learned to play an E chord on the guitar! I figure I'm halfway to a record deal. ;)
5. I baked a scrumptious pear cake to rescue some over-ripe pears from impending doom. Now this may now seem like a big accomplishment, but you ha
ve to understand that I have a special talent for messing up recipes. I either put too much of an ingredient or too little, or forget things alltogether. But this cake was perfect. Pretty, moist, and dee-lish. :)
6. Several of you "homeschool bloggers" (how dorky does that sound?) left me wonderful comments, and added my to your friends, so I just wanted to say thanks for such a warm welcome. :)
Well, there you have it. A sampler of what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks. I'll try to have more consistent blogs in the future.
Till later!
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Mar. 29, 2008 - Gypsy.
There's a stray cat that's been hanging around our house lately.
At first we just thought it was someone's old, fat cat, because it looks pretty big. But the other day it came up to me purring and mewing, and I felt its back--that cat is skin, and bones, and a lot of fur. I can feel his shoulder blades and vertebrate and ribs perfectly. He's also very matted.
So we've been feeding him for the past few days. It's really heartbreaking, because this cat is the most affectionate thing I've ever seen. He's just as hungry for attention as he is for food.
Our indoor/outdoor cat just despises this new cat. He'll sit at the window and look at the cat, and growl and whine. He is such a snob. ;P Thankfully, he's just full of hot air. He's a complete sissy, and like I said, the stray cat looks pretty intimidating. So whenever I've seen them meet outside, our cat just hunches down about 6 feet away and growls and hisses every now and then.
The stray cat pretty much ignores him. lol. He's tried to makes friends with our cat once or twice, but now he just meows at him occasionally. :P
My brother wants to take the cat in, but we really have to decide if we're ready to commit to another cat. Who knows what kind of medical problems this kitty has, besides all the routine shots he'd have to get. I think that for now, just feeding him is going to have to be good enough.
I might try to put up some FOUND posters, because this cat was obviously someone's pet, but we live in a very suburban area, so not many people would see posters.
I'm not sure what to do. He is such a sweetheart, and I hate to see him as a stray. I'm praying that God will show me what I'm supposed to do with this sweet little kitty.
If anyone happens to know more about taking care of strays, though, any advice would be welcome. :)
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Mar. 28, 2008 - Princesses, Princes and Whos.
I'm not usually a big movie fan, but lately there have been a few that have caught my eye.
The problem is that I'm usually too cheap to go see movies at the theatre, or even rent them, so I have to wait until my library gets them. Thankfully, my library has an excellent movie section. :)
So, without further ado, here are the movies I'm yearning to see.
Enchanted- 
I have wanted to see this since the first time I saw a trailer for it. I love the idea of a disney princess thrown into real society, and it seems like the characters have been cast excellently. Some of my friends and I were going to go see it at the theatre all dressed up, which would have been hilarious, but of course we never quite got around to it. :)
I think it's on Dvd now, so I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
Horton Hears a Who-
Okay, I have to admit that the trailer for this kinda unnerved me. The dentist, the numb arm, idk. It just did. lol.
But in my opinion, any Dr. Suess book made into a movie is worth seeing, especially when it's scripted in authentic anapestic tetrameter. :)
Narnia:Prince Caspian-
To be honest, I had forgotten for a while that they were making a second Narnia movie. But now that it's getting closer to release date, I am getting more and more excited about it. :)
I love Narnia. I love everything Narnia. And I can't wait to see this one. I hope it lives up to the first movie.
I think that the producers are hoping to do the entire series eventually. The third one is already scheduled to come out in 2010. I'm excited. :)
Now if only they would come out with another Pirates of the Caribbean.....;)
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Mar. 27, 2008 - Missing: Character
Recently I've really been thinking about character, and working on improving mine. :)
I've really been looking at who I am, and finding lots of character flaws that I've previously ignored. When I find something that doesn't glorify God, I talk to him about it, and focus on changing it. And I find that when my character is good, I feel so much happier about life. I think that a huge part of our mission here on earth is to glorify God with our character.
But what I've noticed lately is society's apparent apathy about character and virtue. Sure, some things like kindness, friendlyness, and joy are always appreciated, but aren't really necessary if a person is attractive or funny.
People with outstanding character are often labeled as 'soft' or 'no fun' and made fun of.
And this isn't just in the secular society either. It's in the churches, too. Gossip abounds in churches, and modesty and forgiveness are practically non-existent. When was the last time you heard a group of women discussing how to be submissive and loving to their husbands, instead of just comparing how unhelpful or stupid their men are? People come to revivals to get filled with the Spirit, but where are fruits of that Spirit in their lives? I don't know. I just think it's time we start to take a stand for character, and start developing and improving ours. What do you think?
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Mar. 27, 2008 - 1st Blog
I've been enjoying reading lots of different blogs lately, and I decided that it's high time for me to start my own up again. So here I am. :) I'm not entirely sure what this blog will consist of yet, probably just rambling about life and talking about things I like, an occasional survey. Typical blog things, you know. ;) We'll see what happens.
Until later!
-S
p.s. If you happen to stumble upon this blog, feel free to send me a friend request! I'm always open to meeting new people. :)
